The Antigua Naval Dockyard has attained the exclusive classification of World Heritage property.

The World Heritage Committee, at its 40^th session, 10-20 July 2016, Turkey, declared 21 new inscriptions to the World Heritage list; 12 cultural, 6 natural and 3 mixed sites.  Included in the decision is the Antigua Naval Dockyard.  The inscription is the first for Antigua and Barbuda

The Antigua Naval Dockyard, a former naval dockyard for the British Navy in the Leeward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean, was established in English Harbour late 1720s and as a military installation, closed in 1895.  The sites consist of a group of Georgian-styled naval buildings and structures, set within a walled enclosure.  The natural environment of this side of the island of Antigua, with its deep, narrow bays surrounded by highlands, offered shelter from hurricanes and was ideal for repairing ships.  The construction of the Dockyard by the British navy would not have been possible without the labours of generations of enslaved Africans since the end of the 18^th century.  Its aim was to protect the interest of sugar cane planters at a time when European powers were competing for control of the Eastern Caribbean.